Rockfish, Dartmouth, Devon, 24.06.10

"Fish so fresh, tomorrow's are still in the sea." This fantastic sentiment comes from restauranteur and seafood expert Mitch Tonks as he opens his second Rockfish restaurant on Dartmouth's harbour frontage. The first Rockfish rose from the Fishworks ashes on Bristol's Whiteladies Road and quickly established itself as a reliable favourite. However, this new Dartmouth venture is "Seafood and Chips" to Bristol's "Grill and Seafood Market", perhaps suitably reflecting the its proximity to the English Riviera and pleasure cruises galore.

We joined Rockfish in its first week and were disappointed to just miss service at five minutes past nine on a busy June evening despite closing time advertised as nine-thirty. Undeterred by this, and by not being able to book a table (a beautifully casual but un-British "just turn up and you should be fine"), we made it in the following night.

There is a buzz in the air- a full restaurant with pastel shades, wooden tables covered in paper table-cloths, and dozens of fascinating if not slightly voyeuristic family holiday snaps posted casually across the walls. The buzz soon turns to chaos but an air of forgiveness lingers- the wrong wine is brought, orders are pimped round the tables as the fresh-faced waiting staff desperately try to account for a stray battered haddock.

The principle is simple- fairly posh fish (from cod to lemon sole) which is battered (or breadcrumbed) with a choice of accompaniments to include the obligatory chips, mushy peas, bread and butter, a glass of sauvignon or a even a cuppa. Half a dozen oysters start proceedings brilliantly without breaking the bank. After a quick reminder to the waiter, the cockles are nostalgic but suspiciously a bit vinegary. Much of the fish is landed just along the coast at Brixham, but a request for breadcrumbs instead of batter is ignored and the batter is a little overbrowned . Luckily the fish survives and remains moist and flakey. Each component arrives in a cardboard tray with paper liner- a nice "fish n chips" touch but very much out of touch with the apparent recycling culture. Dozens of them are later spied spilling over the kitchen bin. Let's hope they were later salvaged, after all, the paper table cloths did advertise "100% good for planet earth". The "adult" knickerbocker glory has a hint of booze and is delightfully camp, but as the detritus from the main course has not been cleared it becomes a cramped affair and another gentle reminder to the waiter.

This place has great potential and a really positive vibe, but we met it during some serious teething. The service needs extending beyond 9pm; the waiting staff need to pay more attention to simple detail; and the tables need uncramping. With a bit less chaos and a bit less litter, Rockfish will almost certainly have great success as Dartmouth's summer season approaches.

The Old Rectory Hotel, Martinhoe, North Devon, 12.06.09

Everyone knows the southern bits of Devon- Torquay, Fawlty Towers, Plymouth, Sir Francis Drake, and so on. Cast your eyes to the north coast and you might get a pleasant surprise.  A flying visit to the Old Rectory Hotel in Martinhoe was the ideal antidote to a particularly poisonous Friday evening  on the M5.  Tucked away beyond Ilfracombe, even your satnav might not locate this little retreat. This hotel changed hands less than two years ago and the new owners have tastefully furnished the eight bedrooms. Other bits still feel like a work in progress, but then they'd happily admit to that.

However, it is food that owner Huw Rees is passionate about, so passionate in fact that he dons a navy-striped apron and cooks it himself. The dining room is spacious but filled with the current cohort of hotel guests. The combination of "Il Divo" (or similar) piped music and lurid carpet of a previous decade sets a curious tone, and the atmosphere is dictated by a somewhat mature audience of diners. A risotto starter with leeks and pancetta is well-seasoned and confidently runny. The rack of lamb is split open to serve, and is accompanied by a simple red wine reduction. It grew up in a field a few miles away and the result is a full-flavoured meat which is left pink and easy on the knife. The vegetables are plain- boiled potatoes and broccoli, plus a rather mushy courgette, white wine and garlic melange that doesn't work. The treacle tart isn't bad, but the cheese portions are a little light. 

Overall the experience is pretty good. On the one hand it's home-cooked fayre with locally sourced meat and fish. On the other, there are confused vegetables and good but homesick risotto wrapped up with an awful CD and a lairy carpet. There's a slight inflexibility in the approach to service, but these are early days in what could be a successful little venture.